Thought for the day

From 1999 - 2001 I had a great experience working as an assistant coach and scout at Triway H.S. for future Hall of Fame basketball Coach Randy Montgomery.

Here is a great News Article about Coach:

(copy/paste link:)
http://northcanton.patch.com/articles/hoover-high-coach-reaches-500-win-milestone-in-107-56-romp-over-fitch



Coach always had himself, another coach or a player bring to practice with them a "Thought for the day". It would be a quote or verse or an idea and before practice the team would discuss it and learn from it.

It was one of many things I learned from Coach Montgomery that I use in my daily work habits and now that I am playing MTT's full time I will be blogging daily with my results as well as my "thought for a day"...

thanks a lot Coach and gl the rest of the season.

How we feel

"Today I will be Master of my emotions"
Og Mandino





If I feel depressed I will sing
If I feel sad I will laugh
If I feel ill I will double my labor
If I feel fear I will plunge ahead...

Sometimes I am my own worst enemy in that I seem to always attach an emotion with a result. This can be a bad thing in life but in poker it is disaster.

Every day I must remind myself over and over again that no matter how I feel at that particular time due to whatever circumstance or result that I must NOT allow these emotions and feelings to change or affect my decision making.

I wish everyone a great week on & off the felt and may you too learn to be Master of your own emotions...

Roller Coaster

Poker is similar to life as it can be quite a roller coaster ride at times. The ups & downs both monetarily and emotionally can become difficult to deal with especially if we are not prepared for it.

The best advice I can give is to learn as much as you can about the particular game you play, not only strategy but what is the standard variance in terms of normal downswings and then just prepare yourself because it will come.

And lastly, just like a roller coaster... Enjoy the ride :-)

The MTT Life

Life of an online MTT Player

Playing online MTT’s can be one of the most frustrating games that a poker player can experience. They can also be the most rewarding, there is just nothing like being at a final table competing for a top finish and top payout as well.

Here are a few things to keep in mind if you are going to play MTT’s.

1). MTT’s like life, are NOT fair:

*You can play mistake free for hours and then lose a standard coinflip/race or get coolered AA>KK or flop a set and get bad-beat by back door straights and flushes and min-cash or bubble and not even cash at all.

*You can also see really bad players win a lot of tournaments/money that you are better than. Worst of all, these things can and will happen over large stretches/samples of games.

2.) MTT Variance is nasty:

*The very best online MTT players go through many ups and downs. The “swings” as they are called can last for thousands of games of losing or breakeven before a top finish can put them back up again. The best players understand this and are able to keep playing good volume and keep playing at or near their optimal game even when they are losing money daily for long periods of time.

3.) MTT’s can be rewarding:

*The rewards both financially as well as psychologically can be tremendous in MTT’s. For me there is no better feeling then being at that Final Table competing for a win, it’s is like no other feeling.

Here are a few suggestions if you intend to be an MTT player and wish to be successful doing so:

· -Join a teaching site and watch many videos of winning players. While they all will play different and some even poorly it is good to see and understand the mental approach that winning MTT players have and you will pick up on this in these videos.

· -Surround yourself with other winning MTT grinders. Group chat on SKYPE, AIM etc… share hand histories and discuss strategy daily.

· -Humble yourself daily, no matter how good you are or think you are you need to always have an open mind in the examination of your game.

· -Last, As the late great Jim Valvano said: “Don’t give up, Don’t ever give up !” Winners never quit and quitters never win, it is really that simple.

Samurai Slashes the micros

I won two micro tournaments this week on PokerStars; The $4.40/6k GTD for $1200 and the $5.50/ 2R1A for $2200.....

This puts my opr at $100k + cashes with over $20k profit in 7,145 games played. Here is my opr link to my stats if interested: http://www.officialpokerrankings.com/pokerstars/SamuraiPlaya/poker/results/3D731C99C4A149FA892DA70435ABECBB.html?t=2


With 10 days to go in the year 2010 I must say that I am at least content with my play, effort and results in Tournaments this year. Cash game play on the other hand is a whole different story sadly enough :(

I am going to finish out the year with a decent bit of volume in S&Gs and will maintain Platinum status on Stars for the third consecutive month.

I hope to have a few more blog entries before the end of the year. Have a great day on & off the felt :)

PS: I was told last week that I have a young follower of my blog, the 10 year old son of my friend Zach... His name is Addison, according to his Papa he is quite a player at "Magic the gathering" and also has a decent understanding of NL Omaha H/L S&Gs as this is one of his dad's games of choice... Just want to shout out to him; Merry Christmas Addison and keep being a good Kid :-)

The little train that could

The Man Who Thinks He Can
If you think you're beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you would like to win, but think you can't,
It's almost a cinch you won't.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

Walter D. Wintle




We learn this principle when we are children, yet through the years we start to doubt ourselves and forget. It is truly simple, if you believe that you can, you most likely will.

Have a great day everyone :-)

Poker update:

It is almost the end of 2010 and while I have not quite accomplished all of my goals for this year I definitely have become a better player.

Actually, I have grown in other areas of my game as well such as understanding and coping with swings/variance and dealing with my emotions. For me it will always be a daily battle but a battle I believe I can have victory over with continued commitment to working hard at it.

I will make at least 1 or 2 more posts before 2010 ends. Have a great day on & off the felt....

Believe it, Speak it, Have it

The bible clearly teaches throughout the scriptures that our words not only have a powerful psychological effect in our lives but they also have a direct effect in our lives.

If you want something just speak it into existence:

"Speak those things that are not as though they were" Romans 4:17

"whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark 11:22-24

Here is a link to a great article explaining this principle in greater detail. http://www.speakfaith.com/articles/why_speak_your_faith.html

Lately in my Poker life I have been speaking more positively about myself and my potential results and last night I made 2 final tables :-)

God's word is amazing and powerful and full of truth and wisdom, Than you Lord .....